Forever & Always
by beargirl1393
Summary: What happens when Severus takes baby Harry away from Godric's Hollow instead of Hagrid. Begins much the same as my oneshot "Always" but deviates halfway through the first chapter. You don't need to read one to read the other.
1. The Beginning

A/N: This starts out the same as "Always", and is the same up until Severus falls asleep. After that is when it changes. It will not have the same ending.

* * *

_What to do now? It would be so easy to join her in death; I don't even have to think very hard to name the variety of ways. My wand would be easiest, with the same curse that killed her or one of the many others out there that can kill indirectly. Poison is another option; I should have something satisfactory in my stores. That is one of the benefits of being a Potions Master. There are other ways too, and yet I can't bring myself to do it. Suicide is the coward's way out, and I don't want her to think me a coward for all eternity. What happened to the boy? Potter's body was on the steps, easy to find. Her's is here, lying in front of the crib, but where is the boy? Is he actually alive under that wreckage?_

Severus moved from his kneeling position by his dead love's body and proceeded to inspect the crib. It was half buried in rubble, and if the child had somehow managed to survive the curse, it would have been miraculous for him to survive being buried in rubble like that. Suddenly, he heard a weak cry, soft and hoarse, as though the voice had cried far too much.

"Help, Mummy, Daddy, help Hawwy! Hawwy owwie."

_The child is actually alive,_ Severus thought incredulously,_ the rubble buried his cries enough that I couldn't hear them over my own._ Distantly, Severus wondered why thoughts of the boy were enough to distract him from the crippling grief that threatened to overwhelm him, but at the moment he couldn't bring himself to care. He had a purpose, a focus, and he'd be damned if he let the boy die now.

Several moments were spent carefully clearing the rubble, ensuring that it didn't collapse further while he tried to free the child. As he worked he talked, trying to reassure the crying child.

"Hush little one, I'll have you out of there soon. Your mother and father aren't here anymore child, they've gone beyond the Veil. Hush child, I promise to get you out of there. I have no idea what to do with you afterwards, but I will find something. Hush child please, I need to focus."

All of this was said in the same low, even tone, and the silky baritone voice washed over Harry, making him feel safe. The man promised he was safe, and he wouldn't lie. Distantly, Harry wondered about his mummy and daddy, and why they weren't talking to him, but that didn't matter right now. He was tired and hungry, not to mention his head hurt, and the man's voice soothed him.

Soon, Severus cleared the last of the rubble away from the crib, and he looked into the wide, trusting eyes of Harry James Potter. _Potter's clone, except for those eyes; Lily's eyes. Several bruises and scrapes, nothing severe, but he is probably hungry and I need to put some salve on that scar immediately._

Harry reached up to the strange man in black. He looked so sad; when he was sad, mummy always hugged him and he felt better. Maybe it would work for the strange man too.

"Up."

Severus reached down and picked up Harry, cradling him gently against his chest and ensuring that the boy didn't see his mother's body on the floor. _Who's to say he won't remember this at some point? He doesn't need to see that._

Harry nestled his head comfortably against Severus's chest, sighing slightly. If it wasn't for his head hurting, he could go to sleep in the strange man's arms. He felt so safe. As if he had read his mind, the man put some strange stuff on his head, making the hurt go away.

* * *

A motorcycle roaring in the distance brought Severus back to his surroundings. He had been standing, who knows how long, watching Harry drift off to sleep, nestled in his arms. The motorcycle brought him back to his senses, and he unconsciously clutched the boy tighter. Whoever was coming for him would want to make the boy into some bloody savior, raising him like a pig for slaughter.

_No, they won't take him from me. He's my last chance, the last part of Lily I have, and I'm not going to let him be used as I was, as a pawn in this pointless war. _

Drawing his cloak tighter around his body and ensuring the boy was securely wrapped up, he disappeared, reappearing in his living room at Spinner's End. Only one knew where his home was, and he'd be far too busy to look for his errant spy tonight. Tomorrow, it would be too late.

He stumbled to the floor, his normally graceful landing hindered by his concentration on not waking Harry. He rose, looking at the child to ensure he still slept before moving to his sofa and collapsing onto it. He had to plan, had to focus…_fake identities are easy enough to create…need to withdraw money from my muggle account at least…glamour that scar and our eyes, possibly our hair…_

Slowly Severus's eyes closed, letting him sink into the sweet bliss of sleep for a few hours. His grip on Harry didn't loosen, nor did the boy's grip on his shirt relax. Even in sleep, they clung to each other. They were all each other had left.

* * *

Severus awoke an hour later to the sound of someone knocking on his door. The wards were keyed to his blood, and would only let someone enter if he wanted them to. He looked at the mirror, hanging by the door, which reflected the front porch. Albus Dumbledore stood outside his door, looking ridiculous in magenta robes with blue stars. He was humming to himself, but seemed somewhat worried.

_No good will come from Dumbledore knowing my plans,_ Severus thought, rising from his seat on the couch. The movement woke Harry, who looked at his new guardian in slight confusion. He could sense that the man was tense, but he didn't know why.

"I'm going to transfigure a crib for you," Severus said softly, taking the child into his bedroom. Dumbledore knocked again, and Severus knew he was running out of time. He had five minutes to get Harry settled and answer the door. He could pretend he was decanting a potion in his lab and didn't hear the first knock.

Quickly, he transfigured a silver crib out of an old box. The bedding was green, a shade darker than Harry's eyes, and there was a small stuffed snake lying beside the green and silver pillow. _Slytherin furnishings; Lily would kill me._ He sat Harry down in the crib, watching as the boy immediately grabbed for the toy and hugged it close.

"Lie down and sleep now little one. Tomorrow will be here soon enough, and we will have much to do."

Harry yawned. He was really sleepy, and he trusted this strange man to help him. He was nice, like mummy and daddy. Maybe he knew where they were. Harry yawned again, laying his head down on the soft pillow and hugging his snake to his chest. After his nap he'd ask.

Severus covered Harry with a small green quilt he summoned from the attic. His mother had made it when he was small, and he recalled that it was warm and soft. He caught himself brushing the hair out of Harry's eyes and frowned. _What am I doing?_ Before he could answer that question, Albus's third knock made him remember the deception he had to play. He cast spells, ensuring that he would know if Harry woke up, but Albus would be clueless.

As he went to open the door, Severus was grateful for the tears still on his cheeks; evidence of his apparent grief.

"Headmaster, what may I do for you?" Severus asked hoarsely, making sure that he looked the part the headmaster expected him to play. The grieving lover, even though Lily had never looked twice at him.

"Ah, Severus my boy, I need your help," Albus said, making no move to enter the house.

_He's not planning on being here long,_ Severus mused before asking, "What do you want Albus? If it is to tell me of Lily's passing, I have already heard. The explosion was on the muggle news tonight. I went to Godric's Hollow myself and saw her dead body." More tears trickled down his cheeks. His grief for Lily was still strong, but it wasn't as all-encompassing as before. He had a purpose, to ensure that Lily's son was raised right, not treated like some bloody savior.

"Did you see Harry when you were there?" Dumbledore asked urgently. That was his whole point for visiting Severus. He needed to know if his spy had heard anything, if he had seen another Death Eater take Harry away.

"What would I care for Potter's brat?" Severus sneered. "I didn't see a child there, but as you know he wouldn't have been my concern. One of the others probably took him away after the Dark Lord fell." Severus knew that no others accompanied Voldemort that night. He was arrogant enough to believe he could get rid of the Potters on his own, and so had none of his followers accompany him. Dumbledore didn't know that, however, so it would be best to get him to focus on catching Death Eaters and questioning them. The charade would only last so long, but it would buy enough time for Severus to take Harry and flee.

"Do you know who was accompanying him?" Dumbledore asked, ignoring Severus's attitude at the moment. "Can you go and talk to some of them, see what they know?"

"No. No more. I am finished being a spy," Severus rasped, anger and grief mingling on his face. "I helped you because you promised to save her. Find yourself a new spy, and a new Potions Master. I quit."

"Now Severus…" Dumbledore began, but Severus cut him off.

"You will not convince me otherwise Albus. My decision has been made, now leave me be." He hadn't planned to add on the last part of his sentence, but his charm was going off, alerting him that Harry was waking up. He needed Dumbledore to leave so he could take care of Harry.

"Perhaps you will reconsider," Dumbledore said, turning to go. "I will come and visit again in a few weeks, and perhaps you will be more reasonable." With that, Dumbledore apparated away, going to the Ministry to discuss the capturing of the Death Eaters.

Severus let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding before he closed the door and went to take care of Harry. After bathing and changing him, Severus put the boy in his transfigured crib once more.

He got ready for bed, considering aliases for them and where they could run to. Somewhere where Voldemort was nothing more than a name on the news, somewhere they wouldn't be recognized even without the glamor. With a small smile, Severus fell asleep, realizing the perfect place to go.

* * *

A/N: Well, we're they going? Guesses?


	2. Shopping

Severus slept until his alarm went off the next morning at six. Unlike many wizards, Severus didn't forget his muggle heritage after he joined the wizarding world. His house was muggle, though he had a potions lab set up in the basement, and magic texts in the library, as well as a few wizarding photos of him and Lily at Hogwarts.

Stretching, Severus glanced over at his unexpected houseguest. Harry was still sleeping peacefully, curled up with his toy snake clutched to his chest. _James Potter is probably rolling over in his grave,_ Severus thought, smirking. He decided to let Harry sleep for a while longer, giving him time to shower and begin packing. He soon put those thoughts into action, and by the time Harry woke up an hour later, the entire library was shrunk and packed in a box with an undectable expansion charm on it.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes, looking around the room in confusion. This wasn't his room. The events of the day before came back to him as he saw Severus coming towards him. _A bad man came,_ Harry thought,_ and scared mummy & daddy. He hurt daddy, and then he hurt mummy. She wouldn't move, even after the bad man left. A new man came, and he cried when he saw mummy. Where are mummy and daddy?_

"Are you hungry child?" Severus asked, looking at the green-eyed child he had already begun to consider his own. _I will need to glamor his eyes for certain. They are as distinctive as my own. No matter where we go, I cannot take the chance that Albus will take him away._

"Yes," Harry said, lifting his arms so the man could pick him up. "Who you?"

_What should he call me? My given name will not work, as I will change that when I create our fake identities._ Severus picked Harry up, still trying to decide what to have Harry call him as he carried the small boy to the kitchen, sitting him in a transfigured high chair and placing a plate with a cut up pancake in front of him.

"Can you feed yourself?" Severus questioned, skipping over the name dilemma for now.

"Yes," Harry said, picking up the small fork and beginning to eat. Why wouldn't the strange man tell him his name? As though he anticipated Harry's thoughts, Severus turned from where he was washing the few dishes and observed Harry for a moment.

"I will need to change our names, so that it is more difficult for others to track us," Severus said, unsure how much of this the child would understand.

"Mummy an Daddy?" Harry questioned.

Severus swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. How do you tell a toddler that their parents aren't ever coming back, because they are dead, killed by a madman?_ Merlin, why me?_

"They aren't coming back Harry," he said, as gently as he could and inadvertently using the boy's given name.

"Bad man?" Harry asked, remembering the laughing man with red eyes that shot green light at his mummy.

"Yes, the bad man hurt them badly," Severus said, moving over and carding his fingers through Harry's hair. "They've had to go away, beyond the Veil, but they will be watching over you. They loved you very much." It was hard to speak of them this way, his great love and his rival from school, but it seemed to soothe the boy.

"Ok," Harry said, not quite understanding. Mummy and daddy would be back sometime, and until then the strange man would take care of him. He seemed nice, though a little sad, and he carded his hair the same way mummy did.

"Finish your breakfast child, we have much to do today," Severus said, moving back to the sink.

Harry finished his breakfast, quietly watching the dark haired man who had rescued him from the bad man.

"Now, let's find something suitable for you to wear, and then we have several places to visit," Severus said, sending Harry's dishes to the sink and spelling them to wash themselves while he cleaned up the little boy. He carried him back to his bedroom, sitting him in the crib while he transfigured several handkerchiefs into a gold shirt, black pants, and gold socks for Harry. He summoned a pair of his own shoes and a spare coat, shrinking them to fit the boy. With Harry suitably attired, Severus took him back downstairs, donning his own coat before looking down at the boy in his arms.

Where to go first? Would it be best to do all of the shopping first? Suitable clothes for the boy as well as suitcases for them both were needed, and he had enough in his muggle account to cover the expenses. That would save Gringotts for last, giving him time to work out exactly what he was going to say to the goblins about his planned adoption of Harry. If anyone could perform the adoption without anyone knowing, it would be the Gringotts goblins.

Mind made up, Severus set off, carrying Harry easily. The child was lighter than most of the cauldrons he used, though he did debate the usefulness of a stroller. Harry was quiet, clutching his snake in one hand and the collar of Severus's robes in the other.

By the time that Severus was done shopping and was moving towards the checkout, Harry was asleep, still nestled contentedly against Severus's chest. It had been rather awkward trying to shop one handed, but Harry had fussed when he tried to place him into the shopping cart. Instead of starting a row in the middle of the clothing store, he simply shifted the boy so he could hold him and still push the cart.

One of the attendants helped him to open the stroller before he left the store, loading the few bags in the stroller and placing Harry in the front. Thankfully the boy didn't wake, only cuddled closer to that stuffed snake toy he had conjured the night before.

"Oh child," he sighed, brushing a lock of dark hair back from Harry's eyes, revealing the now famous scar, "What am I going to do with you?" He shook his head, pushing the stroller in the direction of his house. He would leave the clothes at the house and apparate them both to Gringotts. Then, on to the airport to book tickets for their flight.

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter has been so slow coming, but there is a lot I'm still considering. One question was raised in the chapter: What should Harry call Severus? They're going to have fake names, as their real names could be tracked. Also, I still have no idea where they should run to. I've had requests for Austrailia, Japan, India, Canada, Spain, and Mexico, but I've never been to any of those places and my research is taking time. The next chapter probably won't be up until after the New Year. Thanks for reading


	3. Gringotts

Harry is still sleeping in the stroller after Severus sends their things to his room, so he carefully lifts the child. He doesn't want to wake Harry, but very few wizards would put their child in a muggle stroller, and he didn't want to risk being too memorable.

A simple glamor changes his appearance, giving him light blue eyes and short brown hair. Harry's eyes change to match Severus's, while his hair is reddish brown. The goblins will be able to see through the glamors, but the patrons at the bank would be blissfully unaware that ex-Death Eater Severus Snape was visiting the bank with a child who looks suspiciously like James Potter, dead hero. He summoned his money bag from upstairs, checking to ensure that his vault key is there. It would be pointless to go to all this effort to have it wasted by forgetting something simple.

Exiting the house, he walks swiftly through the streets, still dressed in muggle clothing. Ducking down a rarely used side street, he grabbed his wand and held it out. With a bang loud enough to wake Harry, the Knight Bus appeared in front of him. A teenager steps off the bus and begins speaking, obviously his script each time.

"Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport…"

"Yes, yes," Severus snaps, shushing Harry as he moves forward. "The Leaky Cauldron."

After paying for his fare (Harry was able to ride free because of his age), Severus moved to one of the chairs scattered about the bus and stuck it to the floor, sitting just as the bus took off, jumping back to wherever they were before he summoned them. After an almost hour long journey that seemed to cover more of Britain than Severus had any desire to see, the bus finally pulled up outside the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry had fallen back to sleep on the bus, frankly Severus envied him that as he hated riding that infernal bus, but he perked up as they passed through the dingy pub and into the alleyway, where he drew his wand and opened the alleyway to proceed into Diagon Alley.

He made his way to the bank quickly as possible, stepping into the slightly busy bank with a sigh. Looking at the lines of people made him smirk and thank all the powers that he had the forethought to make an appointment with the goblins. After all, one does not simply walk into the bank and announce that they want to adopt the apparently missing Harry Potter and work on transferring all the money in your vault into one in another name. No, certainly not done.

"I have an appointment with Grimfang," Severus said to a goblin busy checking rubies from one of the vaults for curses. The goblin looked up, noted the glamors and the wizards under them before nodding and going back to his ruby. He took another five minutes to finish his examination before going to one of the other tellers and whispering something. The teller, Grimfang, Severus's vault manager, quickly left his place and moved to Severus's side.

"This way sir," Grimfang said as he headed out of the lobby, Severus on his heels. Harry was staring at the goblin inquisitively, and Severus could almost see the wheels turning in the child's mind.

"Mr. Snape," Grimfang said after they were in his office, him at his desk, Severus with Harry on his lab on the other side, "It has been quite a while since you needed a private meeting to discuss your account."

"Recent events have forced me to consider several things," Severus said, fixing the goblin with his piercing black eyes. "There are several things I need to discuss with you, particularly the back-up plan I devised years ago."

Grimfang's eyes widened slightly. It was always hard to shock a goblin and Grimfang had seen more than most, but he would have never believed this unless he was seeing it with his own eyes. A few years ago, when he began spying, Severus had indulged in a fit of paranoia and had created a foolproof plan so that, if he was discovered, he would be able to flee with no one the wiser. There were muggle lenses to change his eye color, spells researched to straighten and whiten his teeth, a barbering spell to cut his long hair short, and the recipe for a special potion he had created to protect his hair from brewing fumes. He had never used any of them, as his reputation was as a greasy, dungeon dwelling Death Eater. Those had all been set aside, along with ingredients for the potion and muggle make-up to cover his Dark Mark, in a hidden compartment in his vault. Also included in there were books on foreign languages (though he was proficient in several), fake identification (magical and muggle, only needing to be finalize by Severus), and the means to fake his death. Apparently it was time to use those measures.

"Might I ask why?" Grimfang asked, trying to conceal his shock and pleased to find that his voice sounded normal.

Severus didn't answer for a moment, carding his fingers through Harry's hair. He trusted Grimfang, and knew that the oath made several years ago was still valid. The goblin couldn't tell anyone his secrets, plus he would need his help.

"Harry Potter," he finally sighed, gesturing to the boy in his lap. "I found him when I went to Godric's Hollow and couldn't leave him in the wreckage. Dumbledore believes the boy has been taken by Death Eaters, and I wish to have him remain unaware that the boy lives. He will attempt to mold the boy into a savior in the event that the Dark Lord returns, and I don't want that to happen."

"So you will fake your own death, and the boy's, and then the two of you will flee to another country?" Grimfang asked. He had never known Severus to be anything but silent and brooding, but the man had smiled briefly when the child in his lap began babbling to the stuffed toy it carried.

"Yes. The bank operates separate from the Ministry and Hogwarts, so there is no need for anyone in either place to be aware if I adopt Harry," Severus replied, still absentmindedly carding Harry's messy black hair. "A blood adoption will make him my son, without the option of separation in the unlikely event that we are discovered."

Grimfang smiled (a truly disconcerting sight on a goblin), and said, "We had better get started then, hadn't we Mr. Snape?"

A/N: Sorry updates are slow. School just started back up, so I'm trying to get into the routine with my new classes. I'm considering Russia for where they go. I don't speak Russian and have never been there, so I'll take any suggestions for where they should live, ect. Also, for names, I was thinking Johnathan Knight for Harry, and Richard Knight for Severus. Thoughts? Thanks to Yashida for help with my research so far :)


End file.
